"The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It" Film Review

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

Rating: 3.5/5

By: Nathaniel Simpson

    Ed and Lorraine Warren are world-famous paranormal investigators, with some people believing in their work and many people thinking they're full of it. They have investigated numerous demonic possessions, and have even performed exorcists to get rid of demons haunting families. However, they have never had to help create a defense for someone who claims they murdered someone due to demonic possession. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It presents a different sort of Conjuring film, with director Michael Chaves turning this more into a sort of thriller rather than full-blown horror, compared to the other two main entries in this franchise. While there are some pretty good elements here, including acting performances, filmmaking techniques, thrills and scares, it simply doesn't garner the same response from the viewer as the other entries here. 

    Arne Johnson (Ruairi O'Connor) is found by a police officer walking down the street, covered in blood and having no idea how it happened. He is then put into police custody, and at his trial, pleads not guilty of murder due to demonic possession. This is the first time this has ever happened in America, and therefore, they call on the services of Ed and Lorraine (Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga), as they helped perform an exorcism on a younger member of their family weeks before the murder. Now, it's up to the two demonologists to not only prove Arne is innocent, but also prove that their work is real and they are not a hoax. 

    While the other two films in the franchise focus solely on demonic possession and has a haunted house-style horror film, this movie shifts to a more paranormal-thriller type of vibe, with our two main characters trying to investigate into this case and solve how they're going to help Arne in his trial. Because of this, this movie simply isn't as scary as the first two, and I would honestly say it's one of the most tame films in the entire series. I'm not saying it's not done well, and I'll get more into that here, but it's honestly quite disappointing how they made this tonal change, and I think they would have benefitted more from tackling a different case the Warrens had to tackle. 

    At the same time, the movie sometimes moves at too slow of a pace. It seems like there are moments that are few and far between that they are trying to capture here, and the rest feels like fluff at times. I found myself being quite bored with what they were doing at times, and I don't think the movie justified the ending and what they were going for. Even then, the ending was good and I think was shot really well, but they unfortunately ruin it with a very clichéd resolution. 

    However, with the negatives comes some pretty good positives. Farmiga and Wilson are, of course, amazing in this, and once again proves how great of chemistry they have together. If anything in this series, you can always count on those two to give some pretty damn good performances as the demonologists. The other actors, including O'Connor, Sarah Catherine Hook, and Julian Hilliard are all quite good in their roles and add a layer of humanity to the film. 

    The filmmaking techniques executed by Chaves is similar to those of Wan's, taking inspiration from what he did with the earlier films of the franchise to try and craft this entry in a similar fashion. From the camera angles to the set design and how the film is able to set up so much tension, the movie does a wonderful job of trying to inject some horror elements and ideas into this picture that strays from the horror genre. It's obvious that Chaves wants to make a horror picture, but he is limited by what he is able to do with the screenplay. I think if they possibly gave him more creative control over the story, it could be brought to life in a scarier and more compelling way than what we received here. On the basis of the film being a paranormal detective picture, it works; on the basis of it being the follow-up to two of the best paranormal horror films of the 2010's, it unfortunately fails. 

    The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is made very well and isn't a bad movie in the slightest, but it simply doesn't work in the way they were hoping. I respect the fact they tried to change up the franchise and put the Warrens in a new sort of setting we haven't seen them in before, but I think it wold have benefitted them greater if they stuck to their guns and delivered another fantastic, terrifying horror film with the Warrens trying to lead an exorcist. It won't blow you away, but it's also not going to make you feel disappointed after watching.